Vending-machine



0. A. McCOWAN.

' VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30, l9i9.

1,393,147. Patented Oct. 11, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

r W N D. A. McCOWAN.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION man IUNE a0. 1919.

1,393,147, Patented Oct. 11, 1921.

2 SHETSSHEET 2.

Inventor. 711L305 bwa7nmm UNITED srarrs earner OFFICE.

I DAVID ALEXANDER IVIGCOWAN, 0F TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA.

VENDING-IMACHIN E.

Application filed June 30,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, DAVID ALEXANDER Mo- CowAN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident of the city of Toronto, county of York, Province of Ontario, in the Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vending- Machines, described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, that form part of the same.

The principal objects of this invention are, to devise a vending machine of extremely small, neat and attractive appearance which will be proof against fraudulent operation and when empty automatically prevents the insertion of coins.

A further object is to permit the owner to ascertain the number of packages remain-- ing in the box at any time without the necessity of opening the box.

The principal feature of the invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts, whereby the package is delivered by the operation of pivotal members connected with a pivotal arm and said pivotal arm is operated by means of a pivotal member temporarily looked in engagement with said pivotal arm by the operating com.

A further important feature consists in the arrangement of a registering device adapted to be operated by the movement of the pivotal arm in the release of the packages and the operation by said registering device of means for locking the pivotal operating member from further operation following the delivery of the last package.

In the drawings, Figure l is an elevational view showing the mechanism in the position of rest ready to receive a coin.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view showing the position of the parts after the insertion of the coin in the operating position releasing the package.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view showing the position of the parts when the device has been locked after having released the last package.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional vlew through the line we; of'Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a perspective detail of the coin receiving operating pivotal member.

The casing 1 of the machine is preferably of oblong rectangular form and is adapted to be decorated to represent a package of Specification of Letters yatent.

Patented Oct. 11, 1921.

1919. Serial No. 307,766.

the goods to be sold. The front wall 2 is provided with a coin slot 3 of the proper dimensions to allow the insertion of the required coin.

Secured to the inner face of the front wall perpendicularly below the slot 2 is a block etwhich forms a support for one end of the pivot pin 5 which is supported at its other endby a cross bar 6 extending between the side walls of the casing.

A metal bar 7 is pivotally mounted intermediate of its length on the pin 5 and its outer edge swings close to the inner surface of the front wall.

7 The bar 7 is formed with a longitudinal slot 8, opening outwardly through the top and the upper end 9 of the slot is wider than the lower portion. The leg 10 of the bar 7 adjacent to the front wall of the casing is formed with a slot 11 which registers with the coin slot 3 in the casing.

An arm 12 corresponding in shape to the longitudinal slots 8 and 9 of the bar 7 is pivotally supported within said slot on the pivot pin 5 and is adapted to swing on said pivot independent of the bar 7. This arm is formed with a bifurcated upper end, one leg of which extends upwardly beyond the end of the bar 7 and the other leg is shorter.

The slot 13 formed between the legs is adapted to receive the coin inserted through the slot 3 to form a coin pocket and the edge of the coin extends into the slot 11 and forms a locking engagement between the arm 12 and the bar 7.

The arm 12 is formed with a slot 14: in the short leg which extends to the top thereof and a corresponding slot 15 is arranged in the long leg but terminates adjacent to the top thereof.

A spring arm 16 is secured to a bracket 17 arranged on the inner side of the front v wall 2 and extends upwardly having a block 18 secured to the upper end. This block is formed with a beveled face 19 and has a narrow spur 20 which extends into and through the slots 14 and 15. The block is adapted to be held in sliding engagement with the face of the arm 12 as it swings on its pivot and the spur slides along the slots therein to eject coins in a manner hereinafter more fully described.

A spring 21 extends between the bar 7 and the side wall of the casing and holds the pivotal bar 7 at the lower end in engagement with the lug 22 of the bracket 17 and when in this position the coin slot 11 registers with the coin slot 3.

A plate 23 extends in an arc shape from the bar 7 to cover the coin slot 3 when said bar has been swung upon its pivot to prevent the insertion of another coin until the bar returns to its normal position.

A latch arm 24 is pivotallymounted on a pin 25 and has a spur end extending through the slot 15 of the arm 12 and the underside of the arm is provided with a plurality of ratchet teeth 26 which are adapted to engage the upper edge of the coin when inserted in the holder, preventing the return of the pivotal arm to its normal position until the coin has been ejected from the holder.

A cord 27 is secured to the upper end of,

the arm 12 and extends out through a hole in the side of the casing and is adapted to be pulled by the person operating the machine after the coin has been inserted. If this cord has been pulled prior to the in sertion of the coin, the arm 12 simply swings back and forth on its pivot without moving the bar 7 but when a coin is inserted into the pocket and the bar 7 is locked the pulling ofthe cord pulls the bar 7 on its pivot, thus bringing the edge of the coin into engagement with the ratchet teeth on the latch arm 24. As the bar is pulled to its limit the block 18 slides upwardly and pushes the coin out of the pocket, discharging it, at one side of the machine into a pocket 28 where it falls against a spring arm 29 which curves forwardly and lightly engages the front wall of the casing sufficient to hold the coin from passing through. An orifice 30 is arranged in front of the cas ing opposite to the lower end of the spring arm 29 to disclose the coin that has been liberated from the operating lever.

The packages of goods to be sold are arranged in vertical guides 31 and at the bottom of these guides are arranged a pair of right angular-shaped brackets 32 which support the packages.

The brackets are supported on the pivots 33 and are adapted to swing downwardly and outwardly. The swinging operation is conveyed to the brackets from the bar 7 by the links 34 and 35 which are connected to said bar at opposite sides of its pivot.

The upper leg of each of the brackets is provided with a small spring 36 which engages the ends of the package above the lower one and holds all but the lower package carried in the brackets from movement while the brackets are being operated. This feature is clearly shown in Fig. 2 where the brackets are illustrated as partly moved in the operation of discharging the lower package. p

A shutter 37 is pivotally supported in the on its pivot it pulls upwardly on the shutter so that it intercepts the package in falling from the brackets, thereby preventing the package from jamming and assuring its proper delivery. 7

A registering mechanism is provided in the form of a disk 39 rotatably secured to the inner side of the front wall 2 of the casing. The outer face of this disk is provided with numbers indicating the number of packages contained in the machine. A hole 40 is provided in the front of the casing to disclose these numerals. The disk 39 is provided with ratchet teeth 41 on its periphery which are engaged by a spring latch 42 arranged in the lower end of the member 7. This latch engages the teeth of the disk as the member 7 is swung on its pivot and rotates the disk changing the numeral displayed through the hole 40.

A shutter 43 is arranged between the disk and the wall of the casing, such shutter having an opening 44 therethrough. The shutter iscarried upon a rod 45 secured to a vertically slidable bar 46 arranged in the bracket 17 The bar is moved upwardly and is adapted to be interposed between the lug 22 on the bracket 17 and the pivotal bar 7.

This prevents the bar from swinging back,

mains out of register with the coin slot 3 and V the slot 3 is covered by the plate 23.

Arod 48 is secured to the latch 24 to the outward side of its pivot and extends downwardly and engages the coin holding spring arm 29 to release the coin previously inserted. The coin then falls down into a suitable coin pocket 49. i

In the operation of this device the person desiring to obtain an article contained within the machine inserts the proper coin through the slot 3. The coin falls into the coin pocket arranged in the bar 7 and locks the arm 12. The cord extending through the side of the casing is then pulled and the bar block 18 carried on the spring arm 16 forces the coin upwardly until at the end of its stroke it is cleared from the pocket and falls between the spring arm 29 and the front wall of the casing, where it is held for inspection behind the orifice 30.

Upon the release of the coin the bar 7 im mediately swings back to its original position and the packages contained within the guides are released and the lowermost package rests upon the brackets 32 and when the cord is released the member 12 swings back to its normal position.

The counting disk 39 is partially rotated with each movement of the bar 7 and inclioates the number of packages that have been sold so that a person may easily ascertain how many are still left in the machine and when the last of the articles to be sold is dispensed the locking bar as operates in the manner described.

A vending machine such as described is extremely simple. t is positive in its action and is not likely to get out of order.

What I claim as my invention is 1. in a vending machine, the combination with means for delivering packages one at a time, of a bar pivotally supported and operatively connected with the delivery means and having a slot therethrough extending upwardly from the pivot and a transverse slot in one side intersecting the aforesaid slot, an arm mounted upon said pivot within the slot in said bar and having a slot therein adapted to register with the transverse slot in said bar and adapted to receive a coin, said arm having a longitudinal slot intersecting the coin slot therein, manually operated means for swinging said arm on its pivot and through a coin swinging said bar, and means for dislodging the coin from the coin slots.

2. In a vending machine, the combination with means for delivering the packages one at a time, of a bar pivotally supported intermediate of its length and operatively connected with said delivery means, said bar being slotted at its upper end and having a transverse coin slot in one of the legs thereof, an arm pivotally mounted within the slot in said pivotal bar and having a coin slot registering with the slot in the leg of the pivotal bar and having a transverse slot therethrough intersecting said coin slot, means for swinging said arm on its pivot andthrough the coin operating said bar therewith. and means for discharging the coin.

3. in a vending machine, the combination with means for delivering the packages one at a time, of an arm pivotally supported and operatively connected with said delivery means, said arm being slotted at its upper end and having a transverse coin slot in one of the legs thereof, an arm pivotally mounted within said pivotal bar and having a coin slot registering with the slot in theleg of the pivotal bar and having a transverse slot therethrough intersecting the coin slot, a spring arm engaging the pivotal arm carried on said pivotal bar, said spring arm having a spur extending into the transverse slot in said arm and adapted upon the swinging of the bar to push the coin clear of the coin pocket, and a ratchet arm engaging the top of the coin to prevent the return of the pivotal arm until the coin is released.

4. Ina vending machine, the combination with means for delivering the packages one at a time, of a bar pivotally mounted and operatively connected with said delivery means, coin controlled means for moving said bar to release the packages, a spring adapted to return said bar to its normal position following the release of the coin, means for recording the discharging of the packages operated by the movement of the said pivotal bar, an arm arranged to move into contact with said pivotal bar to prevent its return to normal, and means carried by said recording member for obstructing said bar.

5. In a vending machine, the combination with means for delivering the packages one at a time, a bar pivotally mounted and operatively connected with said delivery means, a rotatable disk having. numerals on its face and a ratchet toothed edge, a latch carried on said pivotal bar adapted to engage the teeth on said disk, a spring latch arranged upon said disk, a vertically slidable arm hav ing an extension portion adapted to be engaged by said spring latch on said disk to move the slidable arm into engagement with the pivotal bar, a casing inclosing the mechanism having a hole arranged opposite a portion of said disk to disclose the numerals one at a time, and a shutter carried on said vertically movable arm.

6. In a vending machine, the combination with means for delivering the packages one at a time, of a bar pivotally mounted and operatively connected with said delivery means, coin controlled means for moving said bar to release the packages, means for disengaging the coins on said coin controlled means, a pocket adapted to receive the coin, a spring arm in said pocket adapted to arrest the coin, a casing inclosing the mechanism, a hole arranged in the casing opposite said spring arm adapted to disclose the coin, and means operated by the succeeding movement of the pivotal bar for releasing said coin from the spring arm.

DAVlD ALEXANDER McCOWAN. 

